Luden's Echo was born out of the need for another 120 AP item after Riot decided to take DFG behind the shed. Riot felt that DFG stifled the champion pool in the middle lane, encouraging two types of mid-lane mages - those that could use DFG to burst down the enemy before they could respond and those that could stay safe enough during the laning phase not to worry about it. An "AP Shiv" like Luden's would compliment the assassin's play-style by giving them a substantial damage spike while not denying players the ability to respond to their attack.

But while it was designed as a "replacement" for DFG, it's opened the door for another group of mages that would never use the latter. High poke mages like Xerath, Kog'Maw, and Azir have adopted Echo quickly, allowing them to reach their mid-to-late game power spikes much earlier. What was supposed to be a replacement for DFG soon became one of two items bought in the early game.

The Luden Effect

Why is Luden's picked up so often? It's the most efficient source of power in the early game. While DFG gave additional damage as well, it was limited by a short-range active and cooldown. The item had a clearly delineated window where it was a threat, and a player would be able to punish the enemies that squandered their chance. Luden's doesn't offer these windows of opportunity, as players can safely use its power while at long range and the cooldown is quick as long as the player shuffles their shoes in mid-lane.

As long as the game encourages constant harassment and conflict in the early game, players will gravitate to the most efficient ways to gain advantages during these conflicts. If a character needs mana, they'll pick up an early Morellonomicon for the CDR and mana regeneration. But if they're allowed to reliably pick up the blue buff, or have low mana costs, Luden's Echo will be the pick. 120 AP items are always a power spike, but the additional 100 damage on spell allows players to win trades that they normally would be unwilling to make.

Let's look at Kog'Maw. The little guy was one of the big winners of Luden's introduction. The item provides much needed relief for Kog's awful early game, allowing him into the game long before his level 11 power spike. With the massive range on his R and E, he's able to use Luden's to harass the enemy on cooldown. So when looking at the recent changes to Luden's, Kog should be a good case study.

Look at the little guy, he doesn't know he's destabilizing the meta. (Image credit: TekkanoMaki-Chan on DeviantArt)

Case Study: Kog'Maw

Let's assume our Kog'Maw is level 9 (before his level 11 power spike) and has three items: His Sorcerer's Shoes, Tear, and his first AP buy. Excluding Runes and Masteries, the damage of his Artillery is:

Old Luden's Echo: 160 + 36 (30% AP) AND 100 + 18 from the Luden passive for 312 damage.
New Luden's Echo: 160 + 36 (30% AP) AND 100 + 12 from the Luden passive for 306 damage.
Rabadon's Deathcap: 160 + 47 (30% AP) for 207 damage.

For a Kog'Maw who needs to create space for himself early, the choice is clear - Luden's is the pick over any other item if he wants sheer power. Even with the reduced damage from the passive, Luden's offers substantially more damage than any other item by itself after a single spell.

But the reduced damage on the passive was the smaller of two tweaks made to the item. The bigger change is the reduction of stacks you get for casting spells. With the old Luden's, it was possible for you to get a Luden's proc on your second shot of Living Artillery.

By using your 3 abilities to build 60 stacks, and shuffling your feet 400 units to build 20 more, your second shot would hit the 100 threshold, releasing the bonus damage once it hits. With the new Luden's, getting the proc is less possible, with that same play only resulting in 60 stacks being built.

This change was intended to reduce the damage a poke champion can do, while still keeping the bonus damage for assassins, and it achieves that goal. Kog isn't able to routinely half-health his enemy two seconds after they get back into lane by hitting two shots of R. The damage reduction is made by reducing the frequency of the Luden's shots.

Seriously, doesn't realize a thing. (Image Credit: DragonFlamePrince on DeviantArt)

Luden's Burden

While the change did result in poke characters losing a portion of their burst damage, it still doesn't change the issue that Luden's is the obvious choice for characters looking for pure magic damage. Rabadon's and Void Staff rely too much on other items to purchase early, and Zhonya's will always be a defensive pick. Morellonomicon is an efficient item, but it answers different questions than Luden's does.

It also doesn't change the impact of an early Luden's, making it even more important to pick up the item as early as possible. Luden's makes every character's spell a Nidalee spear, and eating any amount of poke is even more devastating. The problem is made more difficult with the lack of viable early MR options in the mid lane. While AD users have the option to pick up a Hexdrinker to endure the early damage, mages have less appetizing options to build from the Null-Magic Mantle.

So then the big question - what can you do to Luden's Echo? It's not an easy question to answer. Nerfing the passive damage would just hurt assassins more, as they're much more reliant on its one use power. Increasing its cost only makes it harder for the player that is behind in an Echo duel to reach their power spike. While reducing the speed one can charge up the item would lead to clearer windows of power for the Echo wielder, it would also feel clunky in comparison to its AD counterpart.

A solution that looks good on paper is to make Echo activate on the cast of the spell at 100 stacks whether it hits or misses. It rewards players for properly managing their poke, while rewarding the defender for dodging. This does encourage a feast-or-famine playstyle for the Echo wielder, but at the same time, right now a Kog'Maw can zone an entire back line with his R at 100 stacks. The main issue here are issues on mechanics - it would be an unique damaging effect that doesn't occur if you do not hit with it and there are issues of where the bolts come from if an AoE spell whiffs.

Whatever option Riot takes in the future with Luden's Echo will tell us what identity they want it to have in the future. They are very clear that its current state is unacceptable, and they want Luden's to be situationally powerful instead of the default buy. The difficulty is getting to that point.